Star Wars: The Force Awakens reviews *SPOILERS*

[ctark]

The fact that someone is dealing with an issue does not mean that their performance was good. It just means it might have been the best that could have been hoped for considering the issue they were dealing with.

What you are advocating for is akin to saying that because XYZ was a great hitter when he had two eyes, he is still a good hitter if he has lost an eye and now strikes 9 out of 10 times. The reality is he was a good hitter when he had two eyes, and now he is not. The fact that he is not is understandable, but it does not make him good now.

A more realistic example would be Diane Rehm. She is a wonderfully intelligent woman and a pretty good radio host. But her voice sounds like bones mashing around in a garbage disposal. The fact that she has spasmodic dysphonia makes it easy to understand why she has the voice that she does. But it does not make her voice beautiful or any easier to listen to on the radio.



Whether it was "her fault" is irrelevant to her performance in the movie. As is whether she "has" talent.



Agreed - but again - irrelevant to the performance in this movie. Also - Harrison Ford is a perfect rebuttal for this. He did a great job reprising a role as a swashbuckler despite looking like the old man he is. Han Solo lost his good looks, but not his charm.



Again - irrelevant to her performance in this film.



I don't dispute this.



Nope. Sorry to be a hardass on this stuff, but I grew up with a brother who was a child prodigy on the piano. He has more talent for playing the piano in one finger than most people have in their whole body, but he will be the first person to tell you that in the performing arts - the performance is everything. You can have all the talent in the world. You can practice all day and all night. You can do everything right. But if you flub the performance (for whatever reason) - the plain and simple truth is that it wasn't a good performance and you will have to deal with the fact that someone might not have liked it as a result.

Yeah but if your brother cant perform well they will just get another performer. However you aren't going to replace Leia with another actress, the fans would revolt if something like that would ever happen. So you are pretty much painted in a corner and she/they did the best they could with what they had. I suppose the point I'm trying to drive home is she did good considering the challenges that are presented. When she first hit the screen she was actually pretty silent except for the 1 sentence she said to Han. I asked my fiance if that is all the dialogue she was going to have because of her speech issue, thankfully it wasn't and she had a nice role. I wasn't making a case that she had a masterful performance. She didn't detract from the movie and I'm glad she was in it. Also on a side note, she looked great with the makeup and wardrobe. I give them a 10/10 on her look considering what they had to work with.

Complaining about her performance is nitpicking because of all the challenges involved. The only other option I see is not having her in the movie at all, and again the fans would riot.

I'm not picking on you. I've seen a lot of people complaining about the smallest of things and this one of those things that there was no better alternative, so why complain at all and just happy that it happened? Unless you thought her performance was so bad that it detracted from your experience. If that is the case then you will probably not enjoy 8 or 9 because she was probably be the only one that survives the trilogy from the old cast.

 

[Newbian]

The Jedi were not allowed to have attachment, that doesn't necessarily mean they can't have sex.

That was how it used to be as there were plenty of jedi around them also but now they will need to start cranking them out as it passes to their children more in the movies / books.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'll be honest, I came close to shedding a tear when Chewie was shot. I knew Han had to die and I also knew its generally accepted Chewie dies first.

 

[Bitek]

I also thought it would use some energy from the sun then blast it out, but then they went on about it taking out the sun, which I think was mostly so they could use the whole "As long as there's light there's hope" thing. Of course when it blew up and a new sun was there I couldn't help but wonder how bad that was going to fuck things up for that system. It'll be bad no matter how it goes.. the sun moved or they have two. That'll screw things up.

I don't think it matters too much. I read it as metaphorical.

Darkness is trying to snuff all the light from the universe, nearly succeeds, but the light breaks through from within and is restored.

This is allegorical to Vader's story, and you see the same with Ren and Rey story arc being laid down.

Even take the just the scene where Ren interogates her. She had the last puzzle piece he needed to destroy the Jedi, tried to rip it from her, but she turned the mind F back on him. He is clearly wounded and weakened like he's never experienced.

 

[Bitek]

I really liked the character development in this movie, and the depth given to the characters that was often found missing from the prequils.

The interwebs went apeshit over Ren's light saber in the trailer, but watching the whole movie, you see how it's absurdity serves great a symbol for Rey.

Eg
It's a bullshit lightsaber, but he's a bullshit dark Lord.

=

He's still a sith noob who's trying too hard to live up to grandfather. He's immature, petulant and not terribly skilled. He's powerful enough in comparison to an avg stormtrooper to be feared on the surface, but it's a hollow front.

He is wholly unprepared for any real challenge from the light.

He's far more king Joffery from GoT than Vader. (At least Anakin was trained for years, Ren's only lightsaber sparring partner seems to be computer terminals.)

 

[Zstream]

The movie sucked, period. Character development? Wtf are you talking about. How some fresh meat starts sparring with a Jedi and basically beats him on his/her first try? Come on man! This movie was a money grab all the way.

 

[JTsyo]

Is there any official story on the timeline between ROTJ and Force Awakens? From what I gathered in the movie, the Rebel Alliance beat the Empire but parts of the Empire remained and renamed themselves the First Order. The Rebel Alliance becomes the Republic and the Resistance is independent of the them. It doesn't make sense that the Republic would just let the First Order be, seeing they would be natural enemies. The First Order does seem to be held back by the threat of the Republic fleet.

One thing I really liked about this was that it focused mostly on just two sets of characters. The prequels felt disjointed with scenes jumping around. I just wish there were more text in the beginning to layout the current state of the universe.

Looks like this would be the missing link.

 

[Bitek]

The movie sucked, period. Character development? Wtf are you talking about. How some fresh meat starts sparring with a Jedi and basically beats him on his/her first try? Come on man! This movie was a money grab all the way.

1. You are assuming Ren is skilled
2. Assumes Rey is not. Clearly more to her... And she was shown to be a fighter and a survivor on Jakku. She has pretty sweet bo staff skillz
3. Farm boy Luke nailed the exhaust port and blew up the death star first time in an x wing
4. But Luke was guided by the Force, which he just had found out about and got trained on for as long as a hyperspeed trip from Tatoonie to Alderaan lasts

What Luke did is plausible, but Rey is not? She was clearly channeling the force.

 

[Chiropteran]

The movie sucked, period. Character development? Wtf are you talking about. How some fresh meat starts sparring with a Jedi and basically beats him on his/her first try? Come on man! This movie was a money grab all the way.

You really missed a lot of details.

1- Kylo Ren was bleeding to death from a bowcaster shot, something that kills most Stormtrooper-type bad guys. Walking was a strain, he was obviously not fighting at 100%

2- Kylo Ren wasn't even trying to kill Rey, he wanted to convert her to the dark side, or failing that at least interrogate her long enough to get the map out of her. Killing her would have been a failure for him.

3- The fight was 2 vs 1, with Fin & Rey both fighting Kylo Ren.

4- Snoke specifically mentions that Kylo Ren hasn't finished his training. He is just basically a recruit, albeit one strong in the force- he is no Sith or Jedi yet.

 

[TwiceOver]

It was fun, but basically ep4 all over again. A solid 7.

 

[Sephire]

 

[Fanatical Meat]

This person doesn't get it.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/18/opinions/garrett-star-wars-storm-troopers/index.html


The goal is to look cool. That's it.

However the Storm Trooper nerd squad (501st) will they have different arms now?

http://www.501st.com/

 

[Zstream]

1. You are assuming Ren is skilled
2. Assumes Rey is not. Clearly more to her... And she was shown to be a fighter and a survivor on Jakku. She has pretty sweet bo staff skillz
3. Farm boy Luke nailed the exhaust port and blew up the death star first time in an x wing
4. But Luke was guided by the Force, which he just had found out about and got trained on for as long as a hyperspeed trip from Tatoonie to Alderaan lasts

What Luke did is plausible, but Rey is not? She was clearly channeling the force.

Yes, the assumption that Han Solos son, trained by Luke has some skills. Enough to beat the average joe or initial recruit. You can't use the force like he does earlier in the movie and lose badly like he did.

Luke was the direct son of Darth Vader... I'm willing to go with you on the first shot ordeal, but I remember in the movie stating he can do it and has done it on his home planet.

 

[Zstream]

And character development? I think everyone was more in touch with Luke than Rey. They did a bad job of going over any struggles she had in life.

Additionally, the initial scene was a bastardized version of the hobbit screen setup. It was supposed to be in a large place but seemed like the scene was done in a basement (exaggeration I know). If LOTR is crucified for it, Star Wars deserves the same.

 

[artemicion]

The Force Awakens actually made me like the prequels more. Funny enough, I read the interview where George Lucas seemed butthurt and talked about how Force Awakens will probably be popular with the masses but implied that it lacked any interesting themes or characters. I laughed it off as Lucas being super butthurt, but now I agree with him 100%.

7/10. The Force Awakens is superficially "Star Wars" but it lacks any of the themes or sense of wonderment the original six had.

Thematically, the original six were interesting for its spin off of Buddhist themes like cyclical life, enlightenment, fear and suffering, etc. The Force Awakens was just a movie where a bunch of stuff happens. Equivalent to an Avengers movie.

Second thing that bothered me about Force Awakens was how JJ Abrams reused the same ships, stormtroopers, set pieces, etc. from the IV-VI. George Lucas' movies seemed like they came from the imagination of a kid with a box of crayons--original. JJ Abrams movie seems like the came from a little brother who inherited the same toys from his older brother.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I probably should have known this movie would be overly analyzed. All I know is I walked out feeling this was a Star Wars movie which is completely different than I felt walking out of the prequels. And that's all I wanted.

 

[cronos]

interesting perspective from a hard-core SW nerd who actually liked the prequels

This. This is the type of 'hardcore fan' tears that I so deliciously feed on. Thanks for quoting it. That was really good.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The movie sucked, period. Character development? Wtf are you talking about. How some fresh meat starts sparring with a Jedi and basically beats him on his/her first try? Come on man! This movie was a money grab all the way.

Aren't all movies money grabs these days. Artistic direction went away in the 70's.

 

[ussfletcher]

SNIP

7/10. The Force Awakens is superficially "Star Wars" but it lacks any of the themes or sense of wonderment the original six had.

Thematically, the original six were interesting for its spin off of Buddhist themes like cyclical life, enlightenment, fear and suffering, etc. The Force Awakens was just a movie where a bunch of stuff happens. Equivalent to an Avengers movie..

This sums up my feelings pretty well. People have been asking me if I liked it, and I guess I did, but in the same way I like blockbuster action movies. I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters except BB-8, even the characters that were brought back didn't feel right to me. I have actually described the movie as being a series of semi-related events happening on screen with no explanation, entertaining sure, but I wouldn't have minded if any/all of the characters died (exception being BB-8).

 

[Bitek]

This person doesn't get it.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/18/opinions/garrett-star-wars-storm-troopers/index.html


The goal is to look cool. That's it.

However the Storm Trooper nerd squad (501st) will they have different arms now?

http://www.501st.com/

Read story.. Wtf?

Disrespectful to American troops and police because Stormtroopers operate tactically?

At least these Stormtroopers were capable of shooting straight. The guys in the OT couldn't hit the broadside of a bantha from 20 paces.

 

[ctark]

I really liked the character development in this movie, and the depth given to the characters that was often found missing from the prequils.

The interwebs went apeshit over Ren's light saber in the trailer, but watching the whole movie, you see how it's absurdity serves great a symbol for Rey.

Eg
It's a bullshit lightsaber, but he's a bullshit dark Lord.

=

He's still a sith noob who's trying too hard to live up to grandfather. He's immature, petulant and not terribly skilled. He's powerful enough in comparison to an avg stormtrooper to be feared on the surface, but it's a hollow front.

He is wholly unprepared for any real challenge from the light.

He's far more king Joffery from GoT than Vader. (At least Anakin was trained for years, Ren's only lightsaber sparring partner seems to be computer terminals.)

He's not a Sith Lord, he's a Knight of Ren. When you look at the visual dictionary you get a close up view of the lightsaber. It explains it as an ancient design and the kyber crystal that is within it is cracked. Also when looking at it from a top down view, you will see that the cross guards are functional and you can not simply hit the corner of the hilt to chop them off. Ren hasn't fully bought into the darkside, which is why he's not as strong as he should be.

 

[ctark]

Is there any official story on the timeline between ROTJ and Force Awakens? From what I gathered in the movie, the Rebel Alliance beat the Empire but parts of the Empire remained and renamed themselves the First Order. The Rebel Alliance becomes the Republic and the Resistance is independent of the them. It doesn't make sense that the Republic would just let the First Order be, seeing they would be natural enemies. The First Order does seem to be held back by the threat of the Republic fleet.

One thing I really liked about this was that it focused mostly on just two sets of characters. The prequels felt disjointed with scenes jumping around. I just wish there were more text in the beginning to layout the current state of the universe.

Looks like this would be the missing link.

Aftermath is the book you are looking for. But its not a great read from what I've heard.

 

[Zstream]

Aren't all movies money grabs these days. Artistic direction went away in the 70's.

I guess, but as someone already mentioned, it seemed like a Star Wars themed avenger movie.

No real meaning, scenes added randomly to fill time and there was no character development at all.

At this rate, I wish George Lucas directed the damn thing.

 

[norseamd]

Told you guys a long time ago many times by now.

"But no we hate George Lucas, there is no way this movie could suck as long as George Lucas is not in it."

 

[Zstream]

Told you guys a long time ago many times by now.

"But no we hate George Lucas, there is no way this movie could suck as long as George Lucas is not in it."

You were right.

If Jar Jar was a little bit more intelligent and the grown up version of Ani was replaced with someone else, the series would have been fine.

SMH the more I think about it the more frustrating it gets. I mean, all the actors are still alive and had plenty of room for back story and leading drama. I guess the "typical American" for action response should be inserted here